Mount Dragon: an enigmatic research complex hidden in the vast desert of New Mexico. Guy Carson and Susana Cabeza de Vaca have come to Mount Dragon to work shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest scientific minds on the planet. Led by visionary genius Brent Scopes, their secret goal is a medical breakthrough that promises to bring incalculable benefits to the human race. But while Scopes believes he is leading the way to a new world order, he may in fact be opening the door to mass human extinction. And when Guy and Susana attempt to stop him they find themselves locked in a frightening battle with Scopes, his henchmen, and the apocalyptic nightmare that science has unleashed.

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

The writing team that scared the willies out of readers with Relic returns with a second, equally gripping novel of techno-terror. A genetically engineered mutation of DNA holds the promise of eradicating influenza forever. But there's a devastating catch: every living creature who comes in contact with the flu-killing virus dies horribly. In the eponymous research facility located deep in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico, young geneticist Guy Carson and his colleagues try to solve the problem, working in an atmosphere of increasing paranoia while the future of their employer, GeneDyne, rests on the actions of brilliant scientists driven by opposing motives. The authors weave together so many topical threads here (virtual reality, lost Spanish treasure, ethnic pride, scientific ethics) that only their tight control prevents this rousing scientific adventure from spinning away into hyperspace. It's a grand and scary story, with just enough grisly detail to stimulate real-life fears and characters full enough to engage the attention. The bleak desert provides another fearsome challenge to the novel's characters, as well as a metaphor for humanity's previous attempts to control nature. With science, outdoor adventure, sympathetic players and a catchy dusting of computer lore, there's something here to attract-and satisfy-a diverse range of readers. Author tour. (Feb.) ~ FYI: A teaser chapter from Mount Dragon will be included in the mass market edition of Relic, due out this month.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Preston and Child, who pooled their talents in last year's Relic (LJ 1/95), here provide a suspenseful romp combining genetic engineering, virtual reality, and scientific ethics. When Guy Carson is asked to join the elite group of scientists working at GeneDyne's mysterious Mount Dragon facility, he's overjoyed. There, he works on a grand scheme to alter humanity's DNA code in order to provide immunity to the flu. As expected in tales of this ilk, playing God has its risks, and things go horribly awry. Reader David Colacci employs a wonderful sense of pace in this exciting if sometimes preachy novel, which will do well in most popular collections.?Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Most helpful customer reviews

Oh boy, I just love it when the scientists play around with thingsthey do not know enough about. Someone always gets hurt whenthis happens, not always the supposed 'bad guys'. In this case,a genome outfit is playing with a 'super flu' (sounds like SARS),and most of the people working on it think it is for a good cause.Of course, the boss is willing to sell it to the military and to thehighest bidder. He lost his moral code a long time ago, and he's outto make as much money of off his work as he can. Actually, he isn'tthe person working on this, so he doesn't realize there seem tobe a few problems with even working with this flu type.Isn't it obvious that anyone working in the boondocks, i.e. Nevada,is usually up to no good. It's bad enough that anyone living downwindof the atomic testing in Nevada during the 50s and 60s, have either gottencancer or hypothyroidism. You would think by now, that anythingbeing done so secretly would ring a bell, wave a red flag, draw sometype of regulation, right? Those of us who work in bioethics know better...Internal Review Boards are just that, people internally (of thebusiness are regulating themselves). Doesn't happen very well...In this novel which is more along the line of a Tom Clancy novel, one of thenewer scientists starts to notice irrational behavior on the part of otherscientists who were more or less forced into using the vaccine on themselves.They get very paranoid for one thing, and scientists are paranoidanyway, that someone is out to steal 'their' idea. It's apparent that this ideaof scientists working on morally-wrong projects is not new...I am seeingit more and more in the books I read for enjoyment.Read more ›

I was given MOUNT DRAGON as a gift. I read it because I thought CABINET OF CURIOSITIES (another novel by Preston and Child) was such a great reading experience. Although MOUNT DRAGON lacks many of the qualities of CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, it is also an intense novel. One initial thought: I don't understand how two authors can coordinate their skills and compose such a great stories. In my experience, coauthoring is an extremely difficult task and often times the final product lacks lucidity.The most artful characteristic of MOUNT DRAGON is the lifelike manner in which the authors are able to portray good and evil. In real life, good and evil are not discrete entities, but rather they are a paradox existing within the shell of all of us. Thus, Preston and Child portray good and evil as gray - neither black nor white. Thus, we see redeeming qualities in all of the evil characters with the possible exception of one - Nye, the security director. In addition, we see flaws within the "good" characters. It is much easier to create characters who are obviously good or evil and extremely difficult to create realistic personalities that embrace both characteristics. This complex writing task makes the novel suspenseful. The reader doesn't have a clear view of the direction of at least two subplots (particularly after reading CABINET OF CURIOSITIES). For example, the Scopes character is paradoxical, complex - thus, much less predictable, more interesting. On the other hand, the actions of Nye were clear cut. Readers will immediate catch his inherent evil and will be able to accurately predict his actions.The best praise I can offer a novelist is that I will read his/her other work. I was given a copy of Preston and Child's RELIQUARY to read. However, when I read the cover, I realized it was the sequel to THE RELIC. I'm looking forward to reading these novels.

Mount Dragon is the moniker given to the GeneDyne Remote Testing facilty located within the unforgiving desert near the White Sand missile range in New Mexico. GeneDyne, a multi million dollar bio-genetic engineering corporation, is the brainchild of the nerdish, Bill Gates-like biological and computer genius Brent Scopes. Scopes has recruited young, talented and brilliant research biologist Guy Carson, a native New Mexican, to take over for top company researcher Dr. Franklin Burt.Burt had been in the midst of synthesizing a virus, which when introduced into the human genetic code, would give mankind a permanent immunity to influenza. The financial windfall to GeneDyne with this product would be staggering. Burt, however had been experiencing problems. He was unable to render the virus harmless. Testing in chimps had produced a 100% mortality rate. A revolutionary filtration process pioneered by Burt had apparently worked perfectly on his previous breaktrough, PurBlood, an artificial blood substitute. His success could not be duplicated with X-FLU, the influenza eliminating virus. Burt had suddenly and unexpectedly suffered a mental breakdown in the middle of his research, hence his replacement by Carson.Carson, encouraged by Scopes, adopted a new approach for X-FLU synthesis based on his own viral membrane research. Expecting successful results, he unwittingly produced an even more lethal variety of the virus. Along with his assistant Susana Cabeza de Vaca, Carson discovers flaws in Burt's filtration process. They learn that the results Burt achieved with PurBlood were tainted and fudged to meet governmental approval.Read more ›